In 1937 Ettore Majorana proposed that neutral spin-1/2 particles can be described by a real wave equation. Such particles -- termed Majorana fermions -- would be identical to their own antiparticles. Of the fermions in the standard model of particle physics, only neutrinos might possibly be Majorana fermions. In condensed-matter systems of strongly interacting electrons, certain collective excitations could also behave like Majorana fermions. That now appears to be the case. Ali Yazdani of Princeton University and his collaborators have observed Majorana behavior in a nanoscale ferromagnetic superconductor.
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 15:03:23 +0000
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